Automatic browser tab groupings

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention includes systems and methods for grouping into a visual container open browser tabs based on an analysis of uniform resource locators, content, or other information relating to the plurality of open browser tabs. The analysis may include calculating a similarity score. Based on a comparison of the similarity score to one or more thresholds, a visual container is provided displaying groups of tiles corresponding to each of the pages open in the browser tabs. The visual container may be formatted as a set of browser tabs, each containing active tiles for each web page of a particular group. The visual container may be a screen showing piles of tiles, each pile corresponding to a particular group.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present patent document is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/989,957, filed Jan. 7, 2016, entitled “AUTOMATIC BROWSER TABGROUPINGS”, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to management of browser tabs and, moreparticularly, to a method and system of automatically grouping browsertabs.

BACKGROUND

When a person is using the Internet on a computer, he or she may bemulti-tasking. For example, the user may be trying to find a bankoffering a particular loan rate. He or she may have three browser tabsopen, each a website of a different bank. He or she may get frustratedand stop for a while, to search for a book on biology of whales. He orshe may have a browser tab open to a web search engine page and abrowser tab open to an online retailer's page. He or she may then wantto check for information on a dip in the stock market before gettingback to searching for banks. He or she may have three browser tabs opento different news websites. If the user leaves all such eight webbrowser tabs open, so as to be able to revisit each, it will bedifficult for the user to sort through each tab to find the relevant onehe or she is looking for. The user will have to search through thebrowser tab titles, which is inconvenient and time consuming.

SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present invention include systems andmethods for grouping into a visual container open browser tab based onan analysis of uniform resource locators, content, or other informationrelating to the plurality of open browser tabs. The analysis may includecalculating a similarity score. Based on a comparison of the similarityscore to one or more thresholds, a visual container is provideddisplaying groups of tiles corresponding to each of the pages open inthe browser tabs. The visual container may be formatted as a set ofbrowser tabs, each containing active tiles for each web page of aparticular group. The visual container may be a screen showing piles oftiles, each pile corresponding to a particular group.

One aspect of embodiments of the invention provides acomputer-implemented method for grouping browser tabs in a web browseruser interface, comprising: analyzing corresponding uniform resourcelocators for a plurality of open browser tabs; and grouping a subset ofthe plurality of open browser tabs into a visual container based on theanalysis of the corresponding uniform resource locators.

Another aspect of embodiments of the invention provides acomputer-implemented method for grouping browser tabs in a web browseruser interface, comprising: analyzing content corresponding to aplurality of open browser tabs; and grouping a subset of the pluralityof open browser tabs into a visual container based on the analysis ofthe content.

Yet another aspect of embodiments of the invention provides acomputer-readable medium, comprising instructions that, when executed bya processor, perform steps of: analyzing content corresponding to aplurality of open browser tabs; and grouping a subset of the pluralityof open browser tabs into a visual container based on the analysis ofthe content,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features of this invention will be more readily understood from thefollowing detailed description of the various aspects of the inventiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer implementation inwhich the invention may be implemented according to illustrativeembodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example web browser with multiple browser tabs.

FIG. 4 is an example of a visual container for a first group.

FIG. 5 is an example of a visual container for a second group.

FIG. 6 is an example illustrating web piles on a mobile device.

FIG. 7 is an example of a web domain category database.

FIG. 8 is an example of a related topic structure.

FIG. 9 is an example of a visual container having a set of tilescorresponding to browser tabs relating to a similar locale.

FIG. 10 is an example diagram of temporal data relating to a set oftabs.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart indicating process steps for embodiments of thepresent invention.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale. The drawings are merelyschematic representations, not intended to portray specific parametersof the invention. The drawings are intended to depict only typicalembodiments of the invention, and therefore should not be considered aslimiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numberingrepresents like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments will now be described more fully herein withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which example embodiments areshown. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different formsand should not be construed as limited to the example embodiments setforth herein. Rather, these example embodiments are provided so thatthis disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey thescope of this disclosure to those skilled in the art. In thedescription, details of well-known features and techniques may beomitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of this disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Furthermore, the use of the terms “a”, “an”, etc., do notdenote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of atleast one of the referenced items. It will be further understood thatthe terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”, or “includes” and/or“including”, when used in this specification, specify the presence ofstated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods forgrouping into a visual container open browser tabs based on an analysisof uniform resource locators, content, or other information relating tothe plurality of open browser tabs. The analysis may include calculatinga similarity score. Based on a comparison of the similarity score to oneor more thresholds, a visual container is provided displaying groups oftiles corresponding to each of the pages open in the browser tabs. Thevisual container may be formatted as a set of browser tabs, eachcontaining active tiles for each web page of a particular group. Thevisual container may be a screen showing piles of tiles, each pilecorresponding to a particular group.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a computerized implementation 10 of anembodiment for presenting browser content to a user at a level of detailand technological depth that is commensurate with a knowledge level ofone of ordinary skill in the art. Computerized implementation 10 is onlyone example of a suitable implementation and is not intended to suggestany limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments ofthe invention described herein. Regardless, computerized implementation10 is capable of being implemented and/or performing any of thefunctionality set forth hereinabove.

In computerized implementation 10, there is a computer system 12, whichis operational with numerous other general purpose or special purposecomputing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-knowncomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may besuitable for use with computer system 12 include, but are not limitedto, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients,thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computersystems, and/or distributed cloud computing environments that includeany of the above systems or devices, and the like.

This is intended to demonstrate, among other things, that the presentinvention could be implemented within a network environment (e.g., theInternet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), avirtual private network (VPN), etc.), a cloud computing environment, acellular network, and/or on a stand-alone computer system. Communicationthroughout the network can occur via any combination of various types ofcommunication links. For example, the communication links can compriseaddressable connections that may utilize any combination of wired and/orwireless transmission methods. Where communications occur via theInternet, connectivity could be provided by conventional TCP/IPsockets-based protocol, and an Internet service provider could be usedto establish connectivity to the Internet. Still yet, computer system 12is intended to demonstrate that some or all of the components ofimplementation 10 could be deployed, managed, serviced, etc., by aservice provider who offers to implement, deploy, and/or perform thefunctions of the present invention for others.

Computer system 12 is intended to represent any type of computer systemthat may be implemented in deploying/realizing the teachings recitedherein, for example, client device 101 and/or server 120 of FIG. 2.Computer system 12 may be described in the general context of computersystem executable instructions, such as program modules, being executedby a computer system. Generally, program modules may include routines,programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and/or the like,that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. In this particular example, computer system 12 represents anillustrative system for automated browser tab groupings at a level ofdetail and technological depth that is commensurate with one of ordinaryskill in the art. It should be understood that any other computersimplemented under the present invention may have differentcomponents/software, but can perform similar functions.

Computer system 12 in computerized implementation 10 is shown in theform of a general-purpose computing device. The components of computersystem 12 may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors orprocessing units 16, a system memory 28, and a bus 18 that couplesvarious system components including system memory 28 to processing unit16.

Bus 18 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures,including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, anaccelerated graphics port, and/or a processor or local bus using any ofa variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation,such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus,Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, VideoElectronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and PeripheralComponent Interconnects (PCI) bus.

Processing unit 16 refers, generally, to any apparatus that performslogic operations, computational tasks, control functions, etc. Aprocessor may include one or more subsystems, components, and/or otherprocessors. A processor will typically include various logic componentsthat operate using a clock signal to latch data, advance logic states,synchronize computations and logic operations, and/or provide othertiming functions. During operation, processing unit 16 collects androutes signals representing inputs and outputs between external devices14 and input devices (not shown). The signals can be transmitted over aLAN and/or a WAN (e.g., T1, T3, 56 kb, X.25), broadband connections(ISDN, Frame Relay, ATM), wireless links (802.11, Bluetooth, etc.), andso on. In some embodiments, the signals may be encrypted using, forexample, trusted key-pair encryption. Different systems may transmitinformation using different communication pathways, such as Ethernet orwireless networks, direct serial or parallel connections, USB,Firewire®, Bluetooth®, or other proprietary interfaces. (Firewire is aregistered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Bluetooth is a registeredtrademark of Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG)).

In general, processing unit 16 executes computer program code, such asfor creating automated browser tab groupings, which is stored in memory28, storage system 34, and/or program/utility 40. While executingcomputer program code, processing unit 16 can read and/or write datato/from memory 28, storage system 34, and program/utility 40.

Computer system 12 typically includes a variety of computer systemreadable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessibleby computer system 12, and it includes both volatile and non-volatilemedia, removable and non-removable media.

System memory 28 can include computer system readable media in the formof volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 30 and/or cachememory 32. Computer system 12 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia, (e.g., VCRs, DVRs, RAID arrays, USB hard drives, optical diskrecorders, flash storage devices, and/or any other data processing andstorage elements for storing and/or processing data). By way of exampleonly, storage system 34 can be provided for reading from and writing toa non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown and typicallycalled a “hard drive”). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive forreading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk(e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive for reading from orwriting to a removable, non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM,DVD-ROM, or other optical media can be provided. In such instances, eachcan be connected to bus 18 by one or more data media interfaces. As willbe further depicted and described below, memory 28 may include at leastone program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modulesthat are configured to carry out the functions of embodiments of theinvention.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium including, but not limited to, wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, radio-frequency (RF), etc., or anysuitable combination of the foregoing.

Program/utility 40, having a set (at least one) of program modules 42,may be stored in memory 28 by way of example, and not limitation. Memory28 may also have an operating system, one or more application programs,other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system,one or more application programs, other program modules, and programdata or some combination thereof, may include an implementation of anetworking environment. Program modules 42 generally carry out thefunctions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention asdescribed herein.

Computer system 12 may also communicate with one or more externaldevices 14 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 24, etc.;one or more devices that enable a consumer to interact with computersystem 12; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) thatenable computer system 12 to communicate with one or more othercomputing devices. Such communication can occur via I/O interfaces 22.Still yet, computer system 12 can communicate with one or more networkssuch as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN),and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter 20. Asdepicted, network adapter 20 communicates with the other components ofcomputer system 12 via bus 18. It should be understood that although notshown, other hardware and/or software components could be used inconjunction with computer system 12. Examples include, but are notlimited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units,external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archivalstorage systems, etc.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an environment in which embodiments of thepresent invention can be implemented. In some embodiments, the analyzingof content, uniform resource locator (URL), etc., of the presentinvention, is performed on a web browser via a client device. A clientdevice 101 (e.g., comprising the components of computer system 12) maybe a computer, tablet, smart phone, etc., and includes a processor 102and memory 104. Memory 104 may contain instructions, which when executedby the processor 102 cause the client device to perform the elements ofthe present invention. A user may use the client device 101 to browsethe Internet 150 via a network interface 110. A user interface 112 isincluded in the client device 101 and used in conjunction with theclient device 101 for display of the web browser tabs, visual container,etc. See 114 as an example screenshot.

In other embodiments, the analysis is performed on a server. A server120 (e.g., comprising the components of computer system 12) is shownincluding a processor 122, memory 124, and storage 126. Storage 126 mayinclude a data memory, flash device, magnetic device, and/or opticaldevice or other suitable storage device for storing instructions and/ordata for implementation of embodiments of the present invention. In anexample where a URL is analyzed, corresponding uniform resource locatorsfor each browser tab of the plurality of open browser tabs is sent tothe server 120. The content is analyzed on the server 120 by processor122 according to instructions in memory 124. The server 120 provides,for example, a similarity score 153 for each of the plurality of openbrowser tabs. The similarity score may be calculated based on asimilarity of the URL, content of the page, temporal information, localeinformation, etc. Each browser tab is grouped with other browser tabseach having a similarity score that exceeds a predetermined thresholdinto the visual container. The similarity score may be a function of twodocuments, D1 and D2, and described by the function (D1,D2)=X, where Xis a similarity score indicating a level of similarity between documentD1 and document D2. Within this disclosure, a “document” may refer to aweb page.

Various search engines and content comparison engines provide asimilarity score such as, for example, Lucene. Factors involved incomputation of the similarity score may include, but are not limited to,the frequency of a particular term (e.g. “interest rates”) in adocument, an inverse document frequency (measure of how often a termappears within a document index), the number of terms in a query thatwere found in the document, among others. In some embodiments, thesimilarity score between documents (e.g., web pages) may be performed bybreaking each document that is to be compared into sentences or phrasesand recording a hash value for each sentence/phrase into a set. Eachdocument therefore has its own hash set. The set of hashes amongst thedifferent documents is then compared, where a greater number of hashesintersecting between sets correspond to a larger similarity score, wherea larger similarity score indicates more similarity between twodocuments. Other embodiments may use alternative or additional methodsto compute a measure of similarity between various web pages. In someembodiments, a keyword detection process may be performed toautomatically determine appropriate keywords for a webpage. Thisembodiment can be useful in cases where the subject matter cannot beeasily inferred from the URL. For example, a general news website maypost articles on a variety of different topics. The textual content ofthe webpage may be scanned, and a frequency count of the most frequentwords may be assembled. A list of the most frequent words may becomputed. Common words such as articles and pronouns may be excluded orremoved from the list. In this way, a subject for a given webpage may beautomatically detected, and the webpage may be grouped into a visualcontainer based on the automatically detected subject.

FIG. 3 is an example user interface 200 displaying web browser withmultiple browser tabs. WEB PAGE 1 is open in browser tab 202 anddisplayed on a display device. Note that, herein, various web pages willbe discussed, and each labeled “WEB PAGE” followed by an identifyingnumber. This nomenclature represents a hypothetical web page at ahypothetical domain and the tab can display the web page title, domain,full URL, and/or other information. Returning to the example at hand,content 204 of the WEB PAGE 1 is therefore viewable and accessible tothe user. WEB PAGE 2 is open in browser tab 206, WEB PAGE 3 is open inbrowser tab 208, WEB PAGE 4 is open in browser tab 210, WEB PAGE 5 isopen in browser tab 212, and WEB PAGE 6 is open in browser tab 214. Asshown, no efficiency grouping is provided. In embodiments, regularexpressions may be used to correlate multiple URLs. For example, aregular expression may be established to search for a sub-string withina domain, such as “expression1.” In such an embodiment, a URL including“www.expression1.com” and “webpage1.expression1.com” may be grouped intothe same visual container because they both contain the sub-string“expresssion1.”

Some embodiments of the present invention group browser tabs accordingto uniform resource locator (URL) information. In some embodiments,grouping is based on uniform resource locators. Corresponding uniformresource locators for a plurality of open browser tabs are analyzed. Insome embodiments, the analyzing includes identifying a web domain withineach uniform resource locator. A subset of the plurality of open browsertabs are then grouped into a visual container based on the analysis. Insome embodiments, the grouping may include grouping browser tabs with asimilar web domain into the visual container.

Some embodiments of the present invention group browser tabs accordingto content of the web pages open in the browser tabs. Contentcorresponding to a plurality of open browser tabs is analyzed. Thecontent analysis may include a keyword analysis (FIG. 11, ref. no.1054), i.e. searching through the content of the open browser tab fordetection of one or more keywords. A subset of the plurality of openbrowser tabs is grouped into a visual container based on the analysis ofthe content. For example, the content of the browser tabs sharedsimilarities or were otherwise somehow related. Each group may becomposed of tabs including web content containing a similar set ofkeywords.

FIG. 4 is an example of an active tile page 300 including a visualcontainer 302 for a first set of open browser tabs. The active tile page300 serves as a web browser user interface. The visual container 302 isa browser tab, itself, that includes tiles corresponding to the webbrowser tabs included in a first set of open web browser tabs. Aseparate tab 304 is shown for a second set of open web browser tabs, anda third tab 306 is shown for a third set, including only WEB PAGE 8.com(“set” herein means “at least one”). Hence, the third tab may representa webpage that is not sorted into any of the groups and, thus, isunsorted. Each set of tabs is arranged on an active tile bowser pagewith any other tabs in the set. In this example, visual container 302includes a tile 308 corresponding to an open web browser page for WEBPAGE 4.com, a tile 310 corresponding to an open web browser page for WEBPAGE 2.com, and a tile 312 corresponding to an open web browser page forWEB PAGE 5.com. Each tile may include a summary or portion of thecontent of the webpage to which it corresponds, the tabs having thetiles replace tabs for each open webpage. The webpage can be opened in anew browser tab by a user clicking or otherwise selecting the tile fromthe tab containing the tiles. In some embodiments, the arrangement ofthe tiles on the tab can be modified by a user using a mouse to drag anddrop a tile into a new location.

In some embodiments, each tile may be active web content that iscontinuously or periodically analyzed for content. In some instances, atile may be automatically switched from one visual container to anothervisual container based on an automatically detected content change (FIG.11, ref nos. 1068 and 1070). For example, a news website may update apage with a new article every hour to show the latest news. Forinstance, in one hour, a financial story may be displayed, and in thenext hour, a sports story may be displayed. In embodiments, the tilepertaining to the news website may be automatically moved out of afinancial visual container, and into a sports visual container. In thisway, tiles can dynamically move to and from visual containers based onchanging content that is automatically detected.

FIG. 5 is an example of a visual container 400 for the second set ofopen web browser tabs. The visual container 400 includes tilescorresponding to the web browser tabs included in the second set. Inthis example, the second set 402 of the browser tabs includes a tile 404corresponding to an open browser page for WEB PAGE 3e.com, a tile 406corresponding to an open web browser page for WEB PAGE 7.com, a tile 408corresponding to an open web browser page for WEB PAGE 6.com, and a tile410 corresponding to an open web browser page for WEB PAGE 1. Hence,each tile in this group pertains to the subject of financialinformation. Each tile may include a summary or portion of the contentof the webpage to which it corresponds. The content of a tile may alsobe updated in real-time. See, for example, the real-time quote at 412,which updates in real-time. The rendering of the web content may beimplemented via a browser plugin, or by native code.

FIG. 6 is an example illustrating web piles displayed on a mobile device500. In some embodiments, the visual container is a tab/displayincluding web piles. Each web pile is a set of tiles (at least one tile)arranged on top of one another in a “pile”. As shown, a tile 502corresponding to an open browser page for WEB PAGE 4, a tile 504corresponding to an open web browser tab for WEB PAGE 2, and a tile 506corresponding to an open web browser tab for WEB PAGE 5 are arranged ina pile corresponding to the first set. A tile 508 corresponding to anopen web browser page for WEB PAGE 7, a tile 510 corresponding to anopen web browser tab for WEB PAGE 3, and a tile 512 corresponding to anopen web browser tab for WEB PAGE 6 are arranged in a second pilecorresponding to the second set. In some embodiments, the web pileexample of a visual container may be automatically switched to when athreshold of a number of tiles shown in a visual container like theexample of FIG. 4 is exceeded. In some embodiments, the piles may besorted by the number of tiles in each pile. Each tile may include asummary or portion of the content of the webpage to which itcorresponds. The tabs having the tiles replace tabs for each openwebpage. The webpage can be opened in a new browser tab by a userclicking or otherwise selecting the tile from the tab containing thetiles. In some embodiments, the order of the tiles on top of one anothermay be modified by a user dragging and dropping a tile into a newdesired location. The arrangement of the tiles in relation to oneanother may also be modified by a user using a mouse or other device(such as a finger and a touchscreen) to drag and drop a tile into a newlocation. For example, the first set may be dragged and dropped to takethe space of the second set. The second set may be pushed to where thefirst set used to be.

In some embodiments, a maximum number of tiles per visual container maybe established. A display may have certain physical constraints. Forexample, a small mobile device such as a smart phone has less screenarea than a desktop computer typically would have. In some embodiments,if the maximum number of tiles in a container is reached, then anoverflow function may be executed in response to that condition (FIG.11, ref nos. 1072 and 1076). The overflow function may include removingthe oldest or least accessed tile in a visual container to make room fora new tile. For example, if the maximum number of tiles per visualcontainer is four, and there are currently four tiles in a “sports”visual container, and the user opens a new browser tab that is analyzedas a “sports” site, then the oldest or least recently accessed tile inthe sports visual container may be removed to allow for the new entry tobe added. In other embodiments, when the maximum number of tiles pervisual container is exceeded, a new visual container is automaticallystarted. For example, if the “sports” visual container is full and theuser opens a sports website in a new browser tab, a new “Sports-2”visual container may be created to accommodate the new website, withoutneeding to remove any existing tiles from a visual container. In thisway, the issues of limited screen area in mobile devices can beaccommodated.

FIG. 7 is an example of a web domain category database 600. In someembodiments, a category for each page in an open browser tab isidentified based on the analysis of the web domains and/or the contentof the page opened in each web browser tab. In the example shown,database 600 includes a column 602 for web domains and a column 604 forcategories to which the web domains correspond. The plurality of openbrowser tabs are grouped into sets each relating to a similar category.For example, the category determined for a web browser tab open forDOMAIN 1 and a web browser open for DOMAIN 2 is software as indicated inrecords 606 and 608, respectively. Note that, herein, various web pageswill be discussed, and each labeled “WEB PAGE” followed by anidentifying number. This nomenclature represents a hypothetical web pageat a hypothetical domain and the tab can display the web page title,domain, full URL, and/or other information. Returning to the example athand, the category determined for a web browser tab open for DOMAIN 3 issports as indicated in record 610. The category determined for a webbrowser tab open for DOMAIN 4 is travel as indicated in record 612. Tabsfor DOMAIN 1 and DOMAIN 2 would therefore be grouped together into a setin a visual container (like the examples shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6).The tabs for DOMAIN 3 and DOMAIN 4 would each be separately grouped as asecond and third set, respectively, in a visual container.

FIG. 8 is an example of a related topic structure 700. In someembodiments, a related topic detection process is performed amongst aplurality of open browser tabs (FIG. 11, ref no. 1062). Each tab isgrouped in the visual container with other tabs having pages openrelating to similar or related topics. In the example shown, a topic isdetermined to be plumbing 702. Web browser tabs would be groupedtogether which contain content related to plumbing, such as plumbing 702itself, home improvement 704, water damage 706, heating 708, andsprinkler system 710. In a visual container (like those of FIGS. 4, 5,and 6), tabs relating to such plumbing topic will be grouped into a set.Tabs relating to other topics, such as beauty or automotive, will begrouped into separate sets in the visual container. The relationshipsbetween a target word (such as “plumbing” 702) and its associated words(“home improvement” 704, “water damage” 706, “heating” 708” and“sprinkler system” 710) may be established using a lexical database forEnglish such as WordNet® or other suitable database.

Referring again to FIG. 4, in some embodiments, tabs are grouped intosets according to an image analysis. In such embodiments, an imageanalysis process is performed amongst a plurality of open browser tabs(FIG. 11, ref no. 1056). Each tab is grouped with other tabs having asimilar set of images. For example, if WEB PAGE 4 and WEB PAGE 5 containimage1320 and image2325, respectively, which each contain an image of adatabase, tiles corresponding thereto will be grouped together in avisual container (like those of FIGS. 4, 5, and 6). Tiles having otherimages would be grouped into sets separate from the group havingdatabase images. Although the images are reproduced in the visualcontainer, from the web browser tab in the tiles on FIG. 4, that is notnecessary. A variety of facial recognition techniques may be used,including, but not limited to, detection of key features such as eyesand nose, normalization, color conversion, filtering, and/orregistration of the image. Features may be extracted, and a similarityscore between an image on a web page and a known image may be computed.If the similarity score between the image on the web page and a knownimage exceeds a predetermined threshold, then the images are deemed tobe of the same thing. For example, if a webpage contains a photograph ofa person, and through facial recognition the person is identified as aprofessional athlete, then the webpage may be placed into a “sports”visual container. In embodiments, a facial recognition engine such asOpenBR or other suitable equivalent may be used.

FIG. 9 is an example of a visual container 800 having a set of tilescorresponding to browser tabs relating to a similar locale. In someembodiments, open browser tabs are grouped into sets relating to a sameor similar locale (FIG. 11, ref no. 1058). In such embodiments, localeanalysis is performed on the plurality of open browser tabs. Each tab isgrouped with other tabs relating to a similar locale. In the exampleshown, tiles corresponding to WEB PAGE 9 804, WEB PAGE 10 806, and WEBPAGE 11 808 are grouped together in visual container 800 because theyeach relate to Mexico or a Mexican city. The definition of locale can bebroad, like tiles relating to any city in the country of Mexico, orgranular, like areas within Chicago.

FIG. 10 is an example diagram 900 of temporal data relating to a set oftabs. In some embodiments, open web browser tabs are grouped accordingto a temporal analysis (FIG. 11, ref. no. 1060). A temporal accesspattern is analyzed for the plurality of open browser tabs. The groupingthen includes grouping browser tabs with a temporal access score thatexceeds a predetermined threshold into the visual container. In suchembodiments, a threshold may be predetermined against which the temporalaccess score is to be compared. This diagram 900 has a column 902 forthe page open in each web browser tab and a column 904 for trackinginformation relating to the threshold (such as temporal accessscore)—here, a number of times the page in the open web browser tab hasbeen visited/accessed in the last 15 minutes. In the example shown, thethreshold could be access of five or more times in the last 15 minutes.So, if it is determined that a tab for WEB PAGE 13 has been accessedfive times at 906, and the tab corresponding to WEB PAGE 14 has beenaccessed six times in the last 15 minutes, at 908, then tiles for WEBPAGE 13 and WEB PGE 14 will be grouped together as a first set in thevisual container. If it is determined that a tab corresponding to WEBPAGE 15 and a tab corresponding to WEB PAGE 16 have each been openedonce in the last 15 minutes, at 910 and 912 respectively, then thosetabs will be grouped together as a second set in the visual container.In some embodiments, more than one threshold may be set. Additionally,in some embodiments, tabs which a user has a history of switchingbetween may be grouped together. So, if user has switched between thetab corresponding to WEB PAGE 13 and the tab corresponding to WEB PAGE15 more than five times in the last 15 minutes, those tabs will begrouped together.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart 1000 indicating process steps for embodiments ofthe present invention. At 1052, a URL is analyzed. At 1054, a keywordanalysis is performed. At 1056, an image analysis is performed. At 1058,a locale analysis is performed. At 1060, a temporal analysis isperformed. At 1060, a related keyword analysis is performed. At 1064, asimilarity score is received. At 1066, browser tabs are grouped intovisual containers. In some embodiments, it is determined at 1068,whether any content of one or more of the tabs has changed. If yes, thenat 1070, the one or more tabs which have content that changed are movedto another visual container, and the process proceeds to block 1072. Ifno, the process proceeds to block 1072. At 1072, it is determinedwhether a maximum number of tiles is exceeded in any of the visualcontainers. If no, the process returns to block 1068. If yes, anoverflow function is performed at block 1076, and then the processreturns to block 1068. Some embodiments may perform all of the steps inflowchart 1000, while other embodiments may only perform a subset ofthese steps. Furthermore, the steps may not necessarily be performed inthe exact order shown, and in some embodiments, one or more steps may beperformed simultaneously.

The client device and server indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be describedin the general context of computer-executable instructions, such asprogram modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, programmodules include routines, programs, components, logic, data structures,and so on, which perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Exemplary client devices and servers may bepracticed in distributed computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules may be located in both local and remote computer storage mediaincluding memory storage devices.

Some of the functional components described in this specification havebeen labeled as systems or units in order to more particularly emphasizetheir implementation independence. For example, a system or unit may beimplemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom VLSI circuits orgate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips,transistors, or other discrete components. A system or unit may also beimplemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmablegate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or thelike. A system or unit may also be implemented in software for executionby various types of processors. A system or unit or component ofexecutable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical orlogical blocks of computer instructions, which may, for instance, beorganized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, theexecutables of an identified system or unit need not be physicallylocated together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored indifferent locations which, when joined logically together, comprise thesystem or unit and achieve the stated purpose for the system or unit.

Further, a system or unit of executable code could be a singleinstruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed overseveral different code segments, among different programs, and acrossseveral memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identifiedand illustrated herein within modules, and may be embodied in anysuitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure.The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may bedistributed over different locations including over different storagedevices and disparate memory devices.

Furthermore, systems/units may also be implemented as a combination ofsoftware and one or more hardware devices. For instance, geolocationauthentication may be embodied in the combination of a softwareexecutable code stored on a memory medium (e.g., memory storage device).In a further example, a system or unit may be the combination of aprocessor that operates on a set of operational data.

As noted above, some of the embodiments may be embodied in hardware. Thehardware may be referenced as a hardware element. In general, a hardwareelement may refer to any hardware structures arranged to perform certainoperations. In one embodiment, for example, the hardware elements mayinclude any analog or digital electrical or electronic elementsfabricated on a substrate. The fabrication may be performed usingsilicon-based integrated circuit (IC) techniques, such as complementarymetal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), bipolar, and bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS)techniques, for example. Examples of hardware elements may includeprocessors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g.,transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integratedcircuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmablelogic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmablegate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor devices, chips,microchips, chip sets, and so forth. However, the embodiments are notlimited in this context. Also noted above, some embodiments may beembodied in software. The software may be referenced as a softwareelement. In general, a software element may refer to any softwarestructures arranged to perform certain operations. In one embodiment,for example, the software elements may include program instructionsand/or data adapted for execution by a hardware element, such as aprocessor. Program instructions may include an organized list ofcommands comprising words, values, or symbols arranged in apredetermined syntax that, when executed, may cause a processor toperform a corresponding set of operations.

Embodiments of the present invention may also include a computer programproduct. The computer program product may include a computer-readablemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, may be non-transitory,and thus is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, suchas radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves,electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or othertransmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-opticcable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device. Program data may also bereceived via the network adapter or network interface.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofembodiments of the present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of embodiments of the present invention.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described inconjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will be appreciated thatvariations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art.Therefore, it is to be understood that the appended claims are intendedto cover all such modifications and changes that fall within the truespirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for groupingbrowser tabs in a web browser user interface, comprising: analyzingcontent of a plurality of open browser tabs; determining, based on theanalyzing, that an open browser tab includes an image thereon; analyzingfacial features from at least one face in the image; computing, based onthe analysis, a similarity score between the image on the open browsertab and a known image; determining that the similarity score exceeds apredetermined threshold; and grouping the open browser tab into a firstvisual container based on the determination, wherein the first visualcontainer contains a subset of the plurality of open browser tabs havingcontent relating to a particular category to which the known imagepertains.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first visual containeris a set of tiles arranged in a web pile.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein each tile of the set of tiles corresponds to an open web browsertab.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein each tile of the set of tilesincludes a summary or portion of content of a webpage to which itcorresponds.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising moving theopen browser tab to a second visual container based on a change ofcontent in the open browser tab.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising, prior to the grouping, determining whether a maximum numberof tiles in the first visual container is already reached.
 7. The methodof claim 6, further comprising removing, if the maximum number of tilesin the first visual container is already reached, an oldest tile orleast accessed tile in the first visual container to make room for theopen browser tab in the first visual container.
 8. A system for groupingbrowser tabs in a web browser user interface, the system comprising: aprocessor; a memory coupled to the processor; wherein the memorycontains instructions, which when executed by the processor, perform thesteps of: analyzing content of a plurality of open browser tabs;determining, based on the analyzing, that an open browser tab includesan image thereon; analyzing facial features from at least one face inthe image; computing, based on the analysis, a similarity score betweenthe image on the open browser tab and a known image; determining thatthe similarity score exceeds a predetermined threshold; and grouping theopen browser tab into a first visual container based on thedetermination, wherein the first visual container contains a subset ofthe plurality of open browser tabs having content relating to aparticular category to which the known image pertains.
 9. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the first visual container is a set of tiles arrangedin a web pile.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein each tile of the setof tiles corresponds to an open web browser tab.
 11. The system of claim8, wherein each tile of the set of tiles includes a summary or portionof content of a webpage to which it corresponds.
 12. The system of claim8, wherein the memory comprises further instructions, which whenexecuted by the processor, perform the step of: moving the open browsertab to a second visual container based on a change of content in theopen browser tab.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the memorycomprises further instructions, which when executed by the processor,perform the step of: prior to the grouping, determining whether amaximum number of tiles in the first visual container is alreadyreached.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the memory comprisesfurther instructions, which when executed by the processor, perform thestep of: removing, if the maximum number of tiles in the first visualcontainer is already reached, an oldest tile or least accessed tile inthe first visual container to make room for the open browser tab in thefirst visual container.
 15. A computer-readable medium, comprisinginstructions, that when executed by a processor, perform steps of:analyzing content of a plurality of open browser tabs; determining,based on the analyzing, that an open browser tab includes an imagethereon; analyzing facial features from at least one face in the image;computing, based on the analysis, a similarity score between the imageon the open browser tab and a known image; determining that thesimilarity score exceeds a predetermined threshold; and grouping theopen browser tab into a first visual container based on thedetermination, wherein the first visual container contains a subset ofthe plurality of open browser tabs having content relating to aparticular category to which the known image pertains.
 16. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first visual containeris a set of tiles arranged in a web pile.
 17. The computer-readablemedium of claim 15, wherein each tile of the set of tiles corresponds toan open web browser tab.
 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein each tile of the set of tiles includes a summary or portion ofcontent of a webpage to which it corresponds.
 19. The computer-readablemedium of claim 15, further comprising instructions, which when executedby the processor, perform the step of: moving the open browser tab to asecond visual container based on a change of content in the open browsertab.
 20. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprisinginstructions, which when executed by the processor, perform the stepsof: prior to the grouping, determining whether a maximum number of tilesin the first visual container is already reached; and removing, if themaximum number of tiles in the first visual container is alreadyreached, an oldest tile or least accessed tile in the first visualcontainer to make room for the open browser tab in the first visualcontainer.